No Tax Hike Next Year in Mayor's Plan

Property owners in Johnston would not face a tax increase in fiscal 2013, according to the budget proposed by Mayor Joseph Polisena and .

Polisena filed the budget ordinance — a basic overview of revenues and spending — with the town clerk's office on Tuesday.

According to the document, the overall budget for the town would surpass $90 million, about a $1.16 million increase from this year's level, but would not require a hike in the $24.75-per-$1,000 residential property tax rate.

Polisena's budget maintains the same town payment for the school department — $37.13 million, making 2013 the fifth year of level-funding — and includes an increase of $558,000 in state aid, as approved by the General Assembly this week.

The proposed spending plan also assumes increases in medical reimbursement payments ($95,000), rescue services payments ($50,000), and miscellaneous revenues ($355,000) to offset the higher estimated costs.

For the school budget, the new state aid number of $10,639,989 is about $25,000 higher than the one that school committee members built into their budget proposal this spring.

A new schedule included in the state budget for the payments to school districts — which moves September payments to August and April payments to March — is intended to help local departments by providing them the funding earlier.

Here's an overview of the proposed 2012 spending plan and a comparison with the current year's budget:

-34,721

Note: School department amount represents the town contribution and does not include state aid.